Baroness Amos: A joint UK plan for Helmand was drafted by a cross-Whitehall team facilitated by the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit (PCRU) in December 2005. The Helmand plan is jointly owned and implemented by DfID, the FCO and the MoD. The Helmand Executive Group based in Lashkar Gah is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the plan. The overall strategic aim of the joint UK plan for Helmand is,
	"an effective, representative government in Afghanistan, with security forces capable of providing an environment in which sustainable economic and social development can occur, without substantial security support from the international community".
	The strategic objectives of the plan are broken down into four categories—governance, security, economic development and counternarcotics. DfID is responsible for the economic development part of the plan. The objective of the economic development strand is,
	"greater economic opportunities and access to public services to reduce poverty and a sustainable improvement in the legal economy of Helmand".
	The economic development part will be measured by 1) a higher level of household income, 2) increased food security, 3) better health and 4) more people educated. The way in which progress will be measured is by using a combination of the National Rural Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) report and various UN reports. As development activities have been implemented in Helmand only since April 2006, it is too early to judge the impact.
	DfID is providing £30 million over threeyears to support the Helmand Agriculture andRural Development Programme (HARDP). This programme aims to increase economic opportunities for the rural poor of Helmand by supporting the Government of Afghanistan in the rollout of existing successful national programmes in Helmand. Priority preliminary tasks have been undertaken and, by the end of March 2007, this programme will have constructed 200 wells in and around Lashkar Gah city, and 49 kilometres of road will be under construction by then.
	In addition, DfID has committed £4 million to the UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) funding allocation of £6.5 million for the delivery of quick impact projects (QIPS) in Helmand to get short-term development results and help build a platform for longer-term activities. Of the £6.5 million available, over £4 million has already funded over 80 projects in Helmand. These funds have provided humanitarian assistance to victims of the drought, constructed permanent vehicle checkpoints to improve security, improved security around the shrine in Gereshk, reinforced the riverbank walls and provided flood defences for the Bowlan bridge.
	Through the £3 million DfID-funded Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF), the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy Research Project, implemented by Mercy Corps, in Helmand is working on export feasibility of grapes, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplants and okra, and has madestrong contacts with raisin importers (organic and fair trade). The programme is evaluating at least10 different small-scale agri-processing industries, and producing case studies of enterprises that prove to have value added—for example, tomato paste.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will make representations to British airports to adopt the provisions of European Union regulation 1107/2006 in respect of wheelchair charges in time for the 2007 holiday season, rather than wait until 26 July 2008; and
	What steps they are taking to discourage airports from regarding wheelchair handling as a profit centre.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: We are not aware of any UK airport imposing additional charges to individual passengers for provision of wheelchairs. Furthermore, the existence of established case law in this area should already deter airport operators from doing so.
	Department for Transport officials are in regular contact with UK air transport industry stakeholders, including the Airport Operators Association, on accessibility matters and will be issuing a formal consultation later this year on the implementationof European Union regulation 1107/2006 within the UK. Under this regulation, the practice of charging disabled passengers for assistance will be unlawful.

Lord Goldsmith: In December 2005, in accordance with the well established procedure known as a Shawcross exercise, I sought views from ministerial colleagues as to the public interest considerations raised by the SFO investigation. Such views were provided in December 2005 by the Prime Minister and the then Foreign and Defence Secretaries and updated in September 2006. Further such views were provided by the Prime Minister and the Foreign and Defence Secretaries in December 2006. I conveyed those views to the director of the SFO but (apart from the Solicitor-General and myself) no Ministers communicated directly with the SFO. In addition the Leader of the House of Commons raised the case with me in November 2006. The decision to discontinue the investigation was taken by the SFO in its capacityas the independent prosecuting and investigating authority.
	The communications contain material which is sensitive from the point of view of national security so I am not in a position to place copies in the Library. However, consideration is being given to the question of disclosure in the context of requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord Goldsmith: The Prime Minister did not order the termination of the investigation. The decision to terminate the investigation was taken by the director of the Serious Fraud Office. The Cabinet was not consulted about that decision but, as explained inmy Statement of 14 December 2006, the views of the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary were obtained as to the public interest considerations raised by the investigation. This was done in accordance with the well established procedure known as a Shawcross exercise.

Lord Goldsmith: There is no question of the Government giving any such instructions to the SFO, and they did not do so in relation to the SFO investigation with respect to the Al Yamamah programme with Saudi Arabia. AsI made clear in my Statement to the House on14 December 2006, the decision to discontinue that investigation was taken by the director of the SFO independently of government, on the basis of facts particular to the Al Yamamah contract investigations. The SFO's other investigations (including a number relating to BAE Systems) are continuing, and I have made clear to the director of the SFO that he should pursue those investigations vigorously.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: No. It is a cornerstoneof aviation security that passengers, flight crew and ground staff, and the items they are carrying, are subjected to security screening on each and every occasion they move from landside to airside at an airport.

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why housing benefit payable to private landlords is not paid per calendar month insteadof every four weeks.

Lord Truscott: The Community Interest Regulations 2005 andPart 2 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 came into forceon 1 July 2005. The number of community interest companies incorporated during the first year,1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006, was 273. From 1 July 2006 to 16 January 2007, 396 community interest companies have incorporated.

Lord Drayson: The solicitorsfor Sergeant Selman employed a translator who undertook translation work both prior to and during the trial. The translations were made available to the other defence teams. A solicitor for one of the other defendants was able to read and write Arabic.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Electoral registration officers do not have to enter a person on the register until any checks they wish to conduct have been completed to their satisfaction. They have powers to request information from those applying for registration and to conduct a hearing of the application where they consider this necessary. They are not to enter a person on the register until the five-day period for making objections to the application to be registered has elapsed. The Electoral Administration Act 2006 clarified that objections to registration could be made not only to an application for registration, but toan existing entry in the register. The 2006 Act also conferred much broader powers on registration officers to review the entitlement to be registered of a person with an existing entry in the register. They can use this power, for example, if they are suspicious about someone's nationality or fraud. The 2006 Act also created a broader criminal offence of providing false information to registration officers in connection with electoral registration.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Government are not intending to issue guidance on this point. Such guidance is usually issued by the Electoral Commission and we understand that they will be doing so as part of the wider guidance on the EA Act.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Command Paper, Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act: Proposals for Revised Legislation (including establishment of the Regulatory Authority for Tissue and Embryos), published on 14 December, sets out the Government's proposals for revision of the lawon assisted reproduction and embryology. The Government's decision to review the law was based on, in particular, the rise of new technologies and probable changes in attitude since the passage of the original Act in 1990. Copies have been placed in the Library (Cm 6989). The proposals will go on to form a draft Bill to be published for pre-legislative scrutiny.
	A wide range of factors were taken into consideration in bringing forward the proposals, preceded by public consultation in 2005. With regard to embryo research, these factors included, inter alia, recommendations from the House Of Lords Stem Cell Research Committee (Session 2001-02, HL Paper 83(i)) and the House Of Commons Science and Technology Committee (Session 2004-05, HC 7-I), relevant legislation enacted since 1990 and the scope of delegated powers already within the 1990 Act itself.
	The proposals include revisions both to the purposes for which research projects using embryos may be licensed and to the scope of activities that may be authorised by a licence. These include the proposal to make clear that basic embryo research is permissible, subject to controls. Basic research, in this context, refers to research that underpins or enables applied research into, for example, serious diseases.
	The Command Paper makes clear that, because of the considerable advances made in medicine and technology since the Act came into force in 1990, there are some areas within the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 where greater clarity may be helpful. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has performed its duties well, working within the legal framework set out in the 1990 Act, and the Government remain confident that the authority will continue to do so, as will any successor body.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: Fair trade bananas from the Windward Isles have previously been sold in refreshment outletswhen they were available from the market. However, the increased uptake of fair trade bananas by supermarkets has reduced their availability to small-scale purchasers. As a result, the supply of fair trade bananas to the Refreshment Department has become unpredictable and the refreshment outlets have been unable to provide the fruit as a regular product. The supply situation will be kept under review.

Lord Triesman: The number of passports issued, withdrawn, refused and lapsed at our embassy in Dublin in each of the past three financial years is as follows.
	
		
			 Financial year Total number of passports issued Number withdrawn Number refused Number lapsed Total applications received 
			 2003-04 10,024 16 26 0 10,042 
			 2004-05 10,893 0 0 72 10,972 
			 2005-06 10,817 10 0 15 10,825 
			 Withdrawn applications are those that were withdrawn by the applicant subsequent to initially making the application. 
			 Refused applications are those made by ineligible applicants. 
			 Lapsed applications are those that are awaiting further documentary evidence of nationality or identity or awaiting unpaid fees.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information is in the tables.
	
		
			 Contracted-in Money Purchase Scheme 
			 Amount of contribution Number of years of contribution 
			  10 years 20 years 30 years 40 years 
			 8 per cent of median earnings £20,825 £54,359 £106,750 £186,700 
			 16 per cent of median earnings £41,650 £108,718 £213,499 £373,400 
			 8 per cent of half median earnings £10,413 £27,180 £53,375 £93,350 
			 16 per cent of half median earnings £20,825 £54,359 £106,750 £186,700 
		
	
	
		
			 Contracted-out Money Purchase Scheme 
			 Amount of contribution Number of years of contribution 
			  10 years 20 years 30 years 40 years 
			 8 per cent of median earnings £29,390 £80,561 £167,021 £302,309 
			 16 per cent of median earnings £50,215 £134,920 £273,770 £489,009 
			 8 per cent of half median earnings £13,610 £37,323 £77,518 £143,188 
			 16 per cent of half median earnings £24,023 £64,503 £130,893 £236,538 
			 All figures are in 2006-07 prices. 
			 Total contributions are split equally between employee and employer; thus the rows marked 16 per cent illustrate the case where both the woman and her employer each contribute 8 per cent. 
			 Contributions are assumed to begin in 2006-07 for an individual aged 25. 
			 Assumes a real investment return of 3.5 per cent a year for 40 years. 
			 Figures are for women on median and half median earnings in 2006-07. 
			 The figures already include the impact of tax relief since contributions are made on gross earnings. 
			 The size of the contracted-in and contracted-out pension pots is not strictly comparable. This is because contracted-out individuals on both median and half median earnings also build up a reduced entitlement to state second pension (S2P). So their S2P should be taken into account along with their private pension when comparing to contracted-in individuals.

Lord Drayson: "Mothball" is not a term used by the MoD. I have interpreted it as referring to ships capable of being returned to operational service but for which there is no requirement to do so at this time. The only Royal Navy ship in this category is the aircraft carrier HMS "Invincible".
	The total number of each type of surface ship in the Royal Navy excluding Royal Fleet Auxiliaries) is as follows.
	
		
			 Aircraft Carriers 3 
			 Amphibious Assault Ship 1 
			 Landing Platform Dock Ships 2 
			 Type 42 Destroyers Batch 2 4 
			 Type 42 Destroyers Batch 3 4 
			 Type 23 Frigates 13 
			 Type 22 Frigates Batch 3 4 
			 Antarctic Patrol Ship 1 
			 Castle Class Patrol Vessel 1 
			 River Class Patrol Vessels 3 
			 Survey Vessels 5 
			 Sandown Class Minehunters 8 
			 Hunt Class Minehunters 8 
			 Archer Class Fast Training Boats (University Royal Navy Units) 14 
			 Cyprus and Gibraltar Squadrons 4

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The contribution from the General Lighthouse Fund to the provision of aids to navigation in the Republic of Ireland in the past five years and for the years 2006-08 is as follows.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2001-02 5.9 
			 2002-03 5.4 
			 2003-04 5.9 
			 2004-05 6.6 
			 2005-06 6.4 
			 2006-07 (estimated) 6.8 
			 2007-08 (estimated) 7.0 
			 £ Figures supplied are converted from punts before 1 January 2002 and from euros thereafter, at prevailing daily rate of exchange.